Urghhhhhh! You need to do this especially if you do maintenance washes!

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

I do an empty hot wash about every 8 weeks and get the drawer out and give it a clean and scrub.

I've been pretty busy I forgot and haven't done it for a while so I did it a couple of days ago, since then it has STUNK to high heaven , imagine rotting vermin mixed with eggs

So I have done 3 hot washes since with soda crystals as it's obviously dislodged some gunk in the pipes.

Then the fabric conditioner compartment got blocked and wouldn't drain so I googled and it said to take a toothbrush to the roof of the drawer compartment to dislodge any gunk.

So I did, dear God, it was black with mouldy gunk, all the bottom was fine but I'd never thought to look at the top of it

Please go and look at yours and tell me I'm not the only manky mare

I need to do this!

Good god!

I took the drawer out. It was clean, inside and under. Then I dared to look into the drawer space... I'm not the better of it!

How does a clean space with only cleaning liquid get so black and mouldy? I dread to think what it looks like beyond the point I can see.

I've decided to have a tea and fag break before I tackle it.

Ha ha ha!

My machine still reeks I've just done ANOTHER wash with bio powder I bought especially for the job this afternoon.

Ds said ' why does the machine smell so bad, you usually know how to wash, what's happened?'

I stopped using fabric conditioner because of his, and I had a serious addiction to yellow Lenor

I use Method now that you just squirt directly into the drum and so never get a shitty drawer

Method fabric conditioner ? Will get some asap!

What so in the fabric conditioner to make it go so manky?

Fabric softener going straight into the drum is pointless. Softener is used in the last rinse so by the time it's needed, it's all washed away.

Also, softener contains ingredients which will make the detergent ineffective so it shouldn't be added to the wash water

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen (what a name!), what machine do you have? Is the smell coming from the drawer or the drum? Have you cleaned the filter?

It's a Miele and I can't really work out where the smell is coming from , drum I think.

That's odd for a Miele.
Try cleaning the filter behind the little flap, bottom right. You'll need to put a bowl infront of it otherwise you'll get wet.

Then run the machine empty on a boil wash with a little squirt of bleach in it.

If you've bought powder, start using it regularly instead of liquid. Constant liquid use causes mould build up in the machine over time.

I only put fabric rinse in the drawer but it still gets manky after a while

I spray the top of the space with a cleaner (anti-bacterial seems appropriate), then scrub with a softish kitchen brush rather than a toothbrush - much longer reach - then spray it again to dislodge any loose bits.

Once it's all gone (or mostly gone) I do a cycle with a bottle of w/m cleaner.

AND I try to always remember to leave the drawer & door slightly open when the machine's not in use - that definitely reduces death-and-decay smells

I think GobblersKnob means Method laundry liquid, DD2 used it for a while and its pretty damn good IMO

Right so I need to pull the drawer out and look at the top of the space?

My fabric conditioner part doesn't drain either and is always left with water in it.
I just stick it in the other compartment

It's going to be bad isn't it

GingerFoxInAT0phat the syphon in your softener compartment is blocked. Take it completely apart and clean out the little tube with a toothpick, cotton bud or something similar.

Also, adding softener to the other compartment, which I suspect is prewash, will add softener to the main wash which makes your detergent less effective.

I always think it's all this eco washing at low temperatures that makes washing machines stink

I don't give a bugger what people say about 30/40 degree washes being better for the environment...there's a reason for 60/90 degree washes, they kill the germs and so there is NO SMELL to invade the washer

I probably do all bedding, towels, dog blankets, cotton on a 60, the rest is a 40, probably about equal...but most likely less 4os than 60s
..throw in a rare wool wash/hand wash cycle and the occasional 90

I have never had a nasty niff emanating from my machine. I use mostly whatever Non Bio is on offer at Tesco, powder, gel, jelly things or the massive giant box of Non Bio powder from Lidl, and the occasional foray into ecoballs if I remember them, and am feeling a pang about the Polar bears. ;)

Ginger - it won't drain because the drawer is bunged up, mine was the same. Get it out and scrub every little nook , cranny and crevice.

I didn't have a syphon, I had a mini plastic drawer which was part of the main drawer that needed to come off and there was a hole that was completely gunned up with black ....stuff!!

Sorry, you misunderstood, I don't use fabric conditioner at all anymore, I use Method detergent that goes straight in the drum, hence I don't use the drawer at all :)

DameDiazepam, that's a syphon. When the water enters the softener compartment, it syphons up through the little plastic cover and down the tube.

ShuShuFontana, you're spot on. 20/30 years ago when everyone used powder and washed on 40, 60 & 90, maintenance washes weren't needed.

Just seen your post Missing, yes that, it is good, I was surprised, lots of eco ones are a bit shifty, but this works. I do occasionally chuck in some Vanish too, mainly for whites with bad stains, just to be sure.

Rabbit - I was looking for a tube, like when you syphon petrol from a tank

A word of caution following rabbit's advice about putting the drawer in the dishwasher ... I didn't feel up to the job of scrubbing the nooks and crannies with a toothbrush and was about to start the dishwasher so put my washing machine drawer in there. It came out fine, but all the dishes and cutlery were heavily scented with the smell of fabric conditioner - rank!!!

DH cleans the top of our drawer. I told him my hands got ripped to shreds doing it, so he took over not for one minute wondering why his are fine but much larger!

Well I've made it back, wasn't as bad as what I thought it would be, few squirts of spray and a toothbrush scrub.

Couldn't count how many times I scratched my hands/cuticles

Now on a maintenance wash.

Rabbit, I'll get dh to have a look at the syphon thing, sounds a bit too techy for me

Ooh I love a washing machine thread. Marking place to tackle this tomorrow.